Abstract
IN the hemimetabolic insects, the nymphs at a very early stage of development possess rudiments of almost all the organs of the adult, for example, wings, compound eyes, etc., whereas in the holometabolic forms the appearance of these organs is postponed to a definite later stage, namely, the pupal instar. Numerous cases, however, are on record in which the larvæ of the holometabolic insects also showed wing pads, etc. The first communication on this subject was made so long ago as 1813 by Majoli, who observed that certain silkworms after the fourth moult developed directly into moths without spinning a cocoon or passing through a pupal stage. It was in 1896, however, that Heymons definitely described the phenomenon in mealworms (Tienebrio molitor). Kolbe in 1903 reviewed all the cases known at that date, and concluded that the appearance of these organs is premature and is due to accelerated development; he therefore gave the name prothetelie, or prothetely, to the phenomenon. Since 1903 numerous cases of prothetely have been reported, and thus the phenomenon is now recognised to be of fairly common occurrence amongst insects, especially in the orders Coleoptera and Lepidoptera.
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PRUTHI, H. Prothetely in Insects. Nature 119, 391–392 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/119391a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/119391a0
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